Hugos Bar Pizza, Kings Cross

Situated on the troubled Bayswater Road in Kings Cross where clubs like The Trademark, Candy's Apartment and World Bar rule the street and many restaurants barely last for 6-12 months before closing its doors permanently. It is a surprise that on a street full of restaurant losses, there are still a few successes that have lasted for a good amount of time. Hugos Bar Pizza is one of those well known restaurants that has lasted for many years and, judging by what I've seen that night, it's still going strong with Hugo's Lounge running upstairs and another branch in Manly.

Glass of sangria - yum!!! ($35 for a jug...)

We were having trouble deciding on a venue for CC's birthday dinner but eventually we settled with Hugos Bar Pizza as we have heard about how good the award-winning pizzas were, the mad parties and the decent selection of drinks. Plus it's great for large groups as long as you make a booking in advance. As the lighting inside the restaurant was very dark, the photos didn't turn out too great. Many apologies! In terms of the atmosphere, the dim lighting brought a classy, intimate, relaxing yet buzzing vibe to the restaurant.

For entrees, we settled with polenta chips and home made tomato sauce. While it was crispy on the outside, these chunky bites were fluffy, hot and quite moreish. Great to share with others. CC thought these polenta chips were better than the ones at Jamie's Italian as it was not too salty. The sauce was slightly spicy which is the perfect match with polenta which can get bland after a few digs.

Crisp polenta chips with tomato salsa ($10.00)

Of course we were here for the pizzas and they did not disappoint us. The base was thin, crispy and light; and the toppings were full of flavour. It was similar to the traditional concept of pizza where only 4-5 toppings are necessary. Simple ingredients with luscious flavour. Everyone was eager to grab a piece so it was no surprise that each pizza ran out so quickly. It was slightly tough to cut the pizza slices if you prefer to eat it by knife and fork. Eventually I gave up and picked up the slice by the hand. Fancy much?

Though that the prawn pizza had an interesting selection of toppings including chilli prawn, roasted capsicum and tomato topped with salsa verde. I love anything with salsa verde and it certainly adds a tangy flavour to the well-cooked prawns. The mates gave this a thumbs up.

Prawn pizza ($28.00)
chilli prawn, roasted capsicum, tomato and salsa verde

Who doesn't love a good ol' fashioned Margherita pizza? Hugo's certainly does a reasonable job with this pizza by adding a few more necessary ingredients rather than just overloading the pizza base with cheese. And when it comes to buffalo mozzarella on a Margherita pizza, I'm totally there! I'm also a fan of anything with fresh basil as it adds a good amount of aromatic flavour to the pizza. 

Margherita pizza ($20.00)

Roma tomato, buffalo milk mozzarella, parmesan, fresh basil 

Spanish influence has played a role in the Chorizo pizza with the use of chorizo sausages and chipotle sauce. Overall it had a smokey yet zesty flavour from these ingredients 

Chorizo pizza ($28.00)
chorizo, olives, peppers, sundried tomatoes, chipotle dressing

It may look a bit similar to a Margherita pizza but it still has its own flavour with those succulent pepperoni slices. While pepperoni pizzas at some pizza chain stores is mainly just a tomato-based pizza topped with cheese and littered with pepperoni slices; Hugo's pepperoni adds variety with the aromatic mint leaves and creamy dollops of buffalo mozzarella.

Pepperoni pizza ($26.00)

pepperoni, tomato, mint, buffalo milk mozzarella

I would not jump the gun and declare Hugos Bar Pizza to have the best pizza in Sydney but it did satisfy my taste buds that night and everyone at the table were impressed by the food. The service was pretty quick though they do get busy at times. In terms of pricing, it is leaning to the expensive side but if you bring a large group to share the pizzas, it's not too bad. I've also checked out Concrete Playground's Seven Days of Cheaps Eats in Sydney which includes Hugos Lounge serving $5 pizzas on Wednesdays. Good bargain if you ask me. The only minor issue was fitting many pizzas on the table along with wine glasses and small glasses of water without spilling anything. Luckily nothing happened. I'd recommend Hugos Bar Pizza for group outings, birthdays and hens nights since most of the menu has decent servings to share. Give this place a try before it disappears like many other restaurants on Bayswater Road!

Hugos Bar Pizza
1/33 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross NSW
(02) 9332 1227